2018 Spirit II Bad Weber Fade

[DannyG]

The finish is both a curse and a blessing. In "paint terms" (though this is not TRULY it but close) here is what is happening. Imagine a base coat cleat coat finish. Clear will not "fade" since it's well..............clear, but the base (or color) can. Or imagine you paint something (whatever color as it's not important here). But we'll stay on black. So you paint something, then bond it to a glass sheet. The paint fades. but not the glass sheet. All of you are trying to make the paint color come back through a glass sheet bonded to it's surface. Only way to make the color come back is to lift the shell, refinish the colored surface and place the shell back on it.
Noble efforts all of you, but you're wasting your efforts where no good can be done. What you all need is your own backyard home reglazing kit

But why does it 'disappear'when you oil it, or even wet it?

The top that I had that was really bad, that i tried to clear coat, I had sitting under some old parts that I was spraying WD and PB on. That oil dripped all over the lid.

Before I tried clearing it, I washed it and cleaned it up with simple green and once it dried, all those oil drips and runs were still there, no fade in those areas. Im sure it would have come back over time but seems like if that fade is under the 'glass' you would never even be able to mask it.

By the way, the clear coat just kinda bubbled and dripped and came out super uneven. I also didnt spend a whole lot of time prepping it so thats probably part of my poor results.

 

[LMichaels]

Well last thing first. You cannot effectively paint glass (unless it's "etched" somehow) and even then it's tricky and requires special stuff.
As to it "disappearing"? It does not disappear. All that happens is the light refracts differently when you oil or wet it giving the "illusion" it disappeared. But it cannot actually "disappear".
There is nothing you can actually do to make it "disappear" unless fully stripped and refinished

 

[DannyG]

Well last thing first. You cannot effectively paint glass (unless it's "etched" somehow) and even then it's tricky and requires special stuff.
As to it "disappearing"? It does not disappear. All that happens is the light refracts differently when you oil or wet it giving the "illusion" it disappeared. But it cannot actually "disappear".
There is nothing you can actually do to make it "disappear" unless fully stripped and refinished

In my head I thought clear coating it would give it that permanent 'wet' look

 

[Bruce]

Maybe someone should hit that guy up in Kansas City who does porcelain coating. If anyone would know of a solution, (other than recoating it), he would.

Mark, I know you are dealing with him on a lid right now, maybe bring this up to him next time you contact him.

 

[DannyG]

Maybe someone should hit that guy up in Kansas City who does porcelain coating. If anyone would know of a solution, (other than recoating it), he would.

Mark, I know you are dealing with him on a lid right now, maybe bring this up to him next time you contact him.

I was reading about how people are restoring old porcelain signs and they say they clear coat them so maybe I did something wrong or didnt take enough time.

They also say they use WD40 and that fixes it temporarily, even being out in the sun. Maybe this is why all.that oil I dripped on that lid seemed to temporarily remove the fade, even after washing it and cleaning it with simple green.